


Fighter

by lostinthemusic6



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthemusic6/pseuds/lostinthemusic6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long before the group found themselves on the Greene farm, Maggie and Beth had made a run to town together, only to get separated and after disappearing without a trace, Beth had been written off as dead. Now, months after settling in at the prison, Daryl finds himself on a hunting trip that nearly costs him his life until a blonde stranger appears and saves him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

...

* * *

Daryl is going to die.

He's finally accepting of the fact but that doesn't mean he still wasn't pissed as all hell.

All he wanted was to have a peaceful hunting trip. Bag a few squirrels, some rabbits, maybe even a deer if he was lucky. Things had been going fine - his sack now heavy with a few furry creatures - and he was currently on the trail of what he hoped to be a decent sized buck he had found evidence of all weekend. He was just approaching the ends of the trail when he heard the unmistakable moans of walkers and he froze, creeping around the bend of the tree trunk in front of him.

That's where things started to go to shit.

He finally found his buck but he had gotten there too late. He could barely recognize the animal as it lay torn to shreds, swarmed by nearly a dozen walkers. Daryl cursed inwardly and began to silently back away, deciding the rabbits and squirrels would have to do. Just as he turned around though, he was face to face with the reeking smell of death and he just barely dodged the smacking jaws of the walker who had snuck up behind him. He had his knife jammed in the creatures skull before he could even blink but it was already too late, he had drawn attention of the other dozen or so walkers that were just a few feet away from him.

That was how he found himself in the middle of a swarm, the dead surrounding him and his knife was bloodied and clutched in his hand as he desperately tried to fight them off. His crossbow was thrown down on the ground somewhere behind him, the long range weapon unfortunately being no use to him in this type of odds. He wasn't sure how many walkers he had killed but it felt like as soon as one was dead, another one was taking its place. He felt like he wasn't even making a dent in his survival.

He heard a noise behind him and he cursed aloud, knowing that he was a goner. There was no way he could turn to take out the threat behind him when there were already so many in front of him. Just as a walker grabbed hold of his arm, Daryl already weakened and struggling to break free, he decided that this was it, he was done for and even though he was pissed, at least he went down fighting.

Then, something strange happened. Almost as if in slow motion Daryl watched as an arrow pierced through the eye of the walker just seconds from taking a chunk out of his arm. He even heard the soft swoosh of the arrow and even as more walkers pressed on around him he was still able to notice how the now dead walker slumped down to the ground, the arrow protruding from his eye socket and Daryl wasn't sure how but that was one of  _his_  arrows now embedded in the walker at his feet.

Another walker grabbed onto him and Daryl seemed to find new found strength as he wrenched his arm free, his other arm slamming the knife down into the bastards skull. Daryl wanted desperately to turn around, to see how an arrow from his crossbow had somehow ended up in a walker now at his feet but before he had a chance he felt something pressing up behind him and as he recognized the feel of another body against him he tensed until he realized that this body was not reaching for him but instead, bracing against him and Daryl finally understood what was happening just as an unfamiliar voice spoke up.

"Got your back!" he heard them shout and he was surprised to notice that the voice was light and soft, clearly feminine.

He didn't have time to question it though because just as this stranger behind him pushed back into him again they were being pushed closer by the walkers and within a few seconds they found a rhythm and backs together, pushing around the small hoard around them, the duo managed to finally rid the threat. With their backs together, Daryl wasn't able to get a good look at his savoir but he did manage to catch a few glimpses of pale skin and blonde hair.

When the last walker had fallen the two took a moment, both heaving against the other before Daryl decided to turn around and he froze as he instantly felt the cool length of a blade against the flushed skin of his throat. He was surprised to look down and see the woman in front of him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but with the way he had felt her move against him, heard the small grunts of annoyance and exertion as they had fought together he sure as hell wasn't expecting _this_.

She was a tiny thing, barely reaching his chin. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, a few strands sticking out wildly around her face. There were a few spots of mud and blood and gore speckled on her entire appearance and her pale skin was coated in a sheen layer of sweat. Her eyes were what got him though - other than the knife that was being pressed against him with a strength he didn't expect from the fragile looking arm in front of him, of course.

They were big and blue and wide, locked on his own with a fierceness he couldn't fathom. They were intense, carefully watching his every move as he slowly lowered his knife, unwillingly letting it drop from his hands but he wasn't a fool to think that with the hard glare this woman was giving him, her lips set into a thin line and her shoulders squared in defense, that he had any type of control over this situation right now.

"Easy," he mutters, bringing his hands up to show that he is no longer armed.

Her blue eyes narrow. "I'm gonna leave and you're gonna let me," she starts and Daryl furrows his eyebrows. "I saved your life and ya don't owe me nothin' and I sure as hell don't owe you nothin' either, got it?" she spoke roughly, her voice challenging him.

He suddenly understood her defensive behavior. He was a man and she was a woman and even covered in guts and sweat, Daryl wasn't blind to admit that she wasn't bad to look at. He was sure that he was not the first man to have come across her and judging by how she was reacting now, those men certainly had given her a very bad impression on what men were like now. Daryl nodded silently and even though she seemed hesitant, the girl took a step back, keeping her knife pointed at him.

He watched as she bent down slightly, picking up his abandoned crossbow and he glanced down at the walker at his feet again, staring at the arrow that was still sticking out of its skull. She began to hand the bow over and Daryl was amazed at the strength she had, her arm only shaking slightly as she held the heavy weapon with one hand, her knife still pointed at the ready in the other and she suddenly stopped, bringing the crossbow closer to her body then.

"Ya ain't gonna shoot me with this if I give it back to ya now, are ya?" she asks, her voice an annoyed drone and Daryl would have smirked if it had been any other situation.

"Nah," he mutters gruffly and then gestures down to the walker at his feet. "You the one who shot that?"

"Well it wasn't Bigfoot," the woman responds almost immediately and this time Daryl did find himself smirking, though barely.

"Where'd ya learn to shoot like that?" he asks, his voice hinting at almost awed annoyance.

"Does it matter?" she questions sharply and Daryl didn't fail to notice the small flash of pain in her eyes before she quickly masked it.

"Just you out here?" he asks her, taking the crossbow as she held it out again and he immediately shouldered it, showing her he once again meant no harm.

"No," she says evenly and Daryl had to admit, she's a good liar but he's a better one and he already knew she was on her own.

"How many walkers you kill?" he asks then.

She scoffs, her blue eyes sparkling. "Is that even a real question?" she asks incredulously, gesturing down to the small group at their feet and then she speaks again, her voice harder. "More than I can count."

Daryl nods. "How many people you kill?"

Her eyes glaze over, hardening as she narrows her eyes at him and he notices her hand clenching around her knife again. "Four." she says simply, her voice emotionless.

Daryl narrows his eyes now. "Why?"

They just stare at each other then, both seeming to want to get a read on the other and the blonde takes a deep breath before she finally speaks.

"Three because they were bastards who didn't know how to keep their hands to themselves," she says, her voice hard and her knuckles now white against the hilt of her knife and this confirmed his earlier suspicions as to why she was so distrusting of him.

"And the fourth?" he asks gruffly, clenching the strap around his chest.

He sees the pain in her eyes clearer now but her voice is even when she speaks, barely above a whisper. "He asked me to."

She finally drops her hand, letting her fingers relax against the now lowered knife and Daryl takes a small chance and crouches down to pick up his own knife, sheathing it as she watches his every move and he's sure she would have that knife of hers impaled in his body before he even tried taking a step toward her, even if he wanted to.

This woman in front of him had obviously been through hell and quite honestly, he wasn't even sure how she was still standing as he took in her appearance again. She was skinny, too skinny, and she had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in weeks and he wasn't sure what it was about her, but something about this woman in front of him just screamed  _familiar_. He automatically felt like he could trust her and it was more than just the fact that she came when she did and saved his sorry ass.

"Ya wanna come with me?" he finds himself asking, shifting on his feet and he sees her immediately go into defensive mode again. "Gotta place nearby. Shelter an' food. It's safe, there's a bunch'a us. More women and a'couple kids too."

She takes a step back and he resists the urge to flinch as she runs her eyes over him again, seeming to study him, searching for something. He can't help but feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny and he briefly wonders if this was what people felt like when he did the same thing to them.

"The men you've killed," she speaks up, jumping right into assumptions and he knew he couldn't even blame her. "Why'd you do it?"

Daryl tilts his head slightly, glancing her up and down, noticing a small black bag a few feet from her with what he assumes were her supplies and he shrugs.

"Gotta protect my family," he says simply.

He sees another flash of emotions in her eyes at the word but before he could think on what that meant, she nods her head. He watched as a war battled behind her eyes, one part of her still unwilling to trust him but he knew another part of her had to be thinking that she wouldn't survive out here much longer on her own.

"Okay." she says, biting her lip before turning around and grabbing the bag, slinging it up on her shoulder and looking at him expectantly.

"You got anymore questions for me?" he asks, his voice rougher than he intended.

Her eyes graze over him again before she purses her lips. "What's your name?"

"Daryl Dixon." he grunts out.

He sees the hint of a smile on her lips before she looks back up at him and waves her hands in his direction.

"Well Mr. Dixon, lead the way." she says, a playful tone to her voice and he grumbles under his breath as he turns around and begins to walk back toward the direction of the prison.

He was surprised to hear her quiet steps behind him and he found himself glancing behind him, double checking to make sure she was in fact behind him because he certainly wasn't expecting her to move in the forest like he did. The two of them barely made a sound as they trudged through and when he glanced back up from watching her steady feet he saw her gaze on him.

"What?" she asks defensively.

He shakes his head. "So ya gotta name girl?" he asks, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"I do." she says, maneuvering over a fallen tree.

Daryl resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Ya gonna tell me?" he mutters.

He's awarded with a brilliant smile and if he stumbles slightly and snaps a twig beneath his feet because of it, well, he wasn't going to admit that.

"Beth." she says, coming up to walk beside him, her arm brushing his slightly. "Beth Greene."

Daryl froze then, causing her to do the same, her hand immediately going to her knife as she scanned their surroundings, looking for trouble. Daryl just stared down at her though, his mind spinning. He had heard the stories of the lost Greene girl, having been lost in a swarm of walkers with her sister a few weeks before the group had even set foot on the Greene farm. After hearing the story he had just assumed, along with everyone else, that the girl was a lost cause. Just another victim to this world because from the way they had described her, he knew she didn't have a chance.

But here he was, standing next to a girl claiming to have the last name Greene and now that he looked at her,  _really_  looked at her he finally understood that sense of familiarity that had been present since he had looked into her eyes that first time. He still couldn't be sure though, this girl beside him was nothing like he had heard Maggie talk about. This girl had saved his life, he had no doubts that he would be walker chow at this very moment if she hadn't of showed up when she did.

"What is it?" she snaps, glancing up at him.

"Do ya know Hershel and Maggie Greene?" he hears himself asking, narrowing his eyes at her.

Her eyes widen slightly, her face immediately going hard and for the second time that day, Daryl feels the length of her knife against his throat.

...

 


	2. Chapter 2

...

* * *

Daryl stumbles back and he hissed as he felt the blade at his throat follow, breaking the skin.

"Damn woman, we gonna make this a habit 'cause I ain't a fan," he grumbles, reaching out and placing his hands on Beth's hips, taking a huge risk he knows, but the crazy look in her eyes was beginning to worry him, or scare him, he wasn't too sure.

"What did you just say?" she whispers, her voice almost threatening and he tightens his grip on her hips, keeping her from coming closer to him.

"Well, 'm pretty sure I got my answer but I asked if ya knew Hershel and Maggie," he repeats, his voice slightly strained as he swallows against the blade.

"How do you know them?" she asks lowly, her voice harder.

"Woman, get that knife away from me an' I'll tell ya," he grunts, glaring at her.

She pulls back slightly but still not enough to make him want to let go of her and give her the chance to tackle him or something because he wasn't sure why but he was sure this tiny thing in front of him was more than capable of bringing him down.

"This place I'm takin' ya," he starts, eyeing her carefully as she stares at him. "They're there."

"They're alive?" she gasps, letting her hand drop completely and Daryl releases her as she steps back, nearly stumbling against a tree.

He nods warily. "Mm hmm." He watches as a range of emotions course over her and for a brief moment he was suddenly terrified that she was going to start crying. She surprises him though by breaking out into a massive grin, her blue eyes sparkling.

"I knew it!" she exclaims and Daryl was beginning to think that with the way this girl changed emotions so fast, that she just might be crazy.

"Well what are ya waitin' for, c'mon let's move!" she said then, still grinning and Daryl watches silently - maybe slightly in shock, he wasn't too sure - as she begins to walk forward, her footsteps still barely making a sound but now full of purpose.

Daryl lets out a low whistle and he resists the urge to smirk when she whips around, giving him a confused look.

"Wrong way, sunshine."

She just gives him a sheepish smile before she turns and follows the direction he is now pointing to. Daryl shook his head, in utter amazement, at the woman in front of him, before he begins to move to catch up to her. He was still trying to determine if the girl was half crazy because here she was all full of smiles and a damn light in her eyes yet not five minutes ago she was holding a knife to his throat.

"So," she says to him, turning to look back as he approaches her side. "How'd ya meet them? Maggie and my Daddy?"

"Carl got shot," he answers gruffly with a simple shrug and continues past her, now back to leading her.

"Oh," she murmurs and nods her head - like it all makes perfect sense - and Daryl smirks again, just waiting. "Wait?  _What_?" she asks then, her voice raising in tone.

"Rick - he's kinda the leader of our group - his son, Carl, got shot and yer daddy fixed 'em up. Been playin' doctor since then." Daryl explains shortly and then he pauses, motioning with his hand for her to stop as he hears something up ahead.

He felt her hesitate for only a moment before they hear the familiar groaning of a walker. Before Daryl can even lift his crossbow the blonde strides forward, and just as the walker stumbles from the bushes she is right in front of it, her knife in it's skull before he can blink and he just looks on in muted shock.

Yeah, the damn woman was crazy.

The walker drops to the ground and she glances back at him, probably wondering why he is just standing there like a damn fool.

"What?" she asks, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Pretty handy with that knife, girl," he grunts, shaking his head as he finally figures out how to move his feet again.

She shrugs. "Had a'lotta practice I guess."

"Ya don't get that good through just  _practice_ ," he digs, giving her a sideways glance as she walks beside him, eyeing her for a reaction.

"So, when did all this happen? When _Carl_ , got shot?" she asks then, her voice sounding uncertain at the name and Daryl wasn't stupid not to realize that she was changing the subject.

He thought back to her shooting his crossbow with near perfect accuracy and can't help but wonder why she was being so reluctant to share her training experiences. He decides that for now, he would ignore it and he found himself thinking back to the farm, to what he had heard of the "little girl" who had been swarmed by walkers and stolen from her sisters side - as he had overheard Maggie tellin' Glenn when the two had walked past his tent one night, checking the perimeter and believing him to be asleep.

"I'd say by my reckonin', we showed up on yer farm a few weeks after they lost ya," he finally says, nodding his head as he thought.

He risks a glance at her and notices her face looking lost in thought before he sees the hint of a smile forming. "Well it'll be a real surprise when I come walking up with you, I bet. I'm sure they've been goin' crazy lookin' for me, probably be real happy to see me." she says with a wistful glance in his direction and Daryl felt the words pouring out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"More like shocked. Hell, I wouldn't even put it past Maggie ta go an' faint or some shit."

"Why would you say that?" she asks in a confused voice and she stops walking, making him do the same as he looks at her.

"They think yer dead, girl," he blurts out and with the way her face falls, he instantly feels like a dick.

"What?" she asks in a whisper of a breath, her mouth gaping slightly and her eyes disbelieving. "Ya mean they haven't...they haven't been lookin' for me or nothin'?" she asks quietly.

Daryl curses inwardly as he sees the wounded look on her face, like someone had just kicked her damn puppy or something.

He shakes his head slowly. "They, uh, they already had a grave for ya when we got to the farm. Wasn't more than a few days old but I'm sure they looked for ya for a while 'fore that." he explains, scratching his neck as he tries to pull shit out of thin air. He had no clue how long or even  _if_  they had looked for her. He never really stuck around long enough to hear that part of the story.

"Right," she whispers, her eyes looking far away, the lightness that had been there only moments before now dimmed away. She swallows thickly and then straightens up, jutting her chin out as she glances toward the direction they had been walking. "How much farther?"

"A few miles or so," Daryl answers cautiously, once again terrified that she might break down right in front of him and he would have to stand there and watch because lord knows he wouldn't have a clue what to do with that.

Daryl Dixon doesn't do emotions.

She doesn't say anything, just squares her shoulders and her hand drops down to rest on the hilt of her knife and this time when she looks up at him, he sees more of the fierce woman who had just saved his ass and less of the girl who was just told her family was alive and only a few miles away. He suddenly feels this strange twisting in his gut and he gets the odd feeling to want and reach out to her. His eyes widen at that last thought and he quickly turns on his heel just as she waves her hand in front of them, signalling him to once again show her the way.

They walk the next few miles in silence, both holding their weapons ready in their hands and she is so damn quiet that more than once he finds himself looking down at her, just making sure that she was indeed still next to him. Daryl relaxes his arms slightly as he recognizes the familiar terrain and deduces there to only be another mile before the gates of the prison start to show. She follows his lead, sheathing her knife at her hip and only a few moments pass before he looks down and sees her now holding a small pocket knife, twisting it around in her hands with an almost deadly precision, the weapon looking much too harsh to be sliding around in her small hands as she twirls it around aimlessly.

"Ya know I went back to the farm," she speaks quietly beside him and he looks down at her in surprise but her gaze is straight ahead, that small knife moving around in her hands in an unconscious movement. "It took me a while to find my way back, I got so turned around when I ran and then I cut my arm up somethin' awful. Had to stitch it up myself and I holed up in an old apartment above a gas station while I healed."

He sees her knife still between her fingers and she glances down at her arm and he watches as her fingers glide over a jaded white scar over the inside of her wrist.

"By the time I made it back though, everything was pretty much gone. The barn was burned down, there were dead all over the yard, along the fences. There were even some in the house. It was awful." she sighs, biting her lip.

Daryl nods and makes a humming noise in the back of his throat. "A'couple a weeks after we showed up, got swarmed by a herd. Had to be more than a hundred. We fought back but in the end, there was no point. Like ya said, it was gone." he explains, his voice soft but still holding that roughness.

She nods, taking in a deep breath. "I never stopped hopin' though. I mean, I saw that the cars were gone and I thought, I  _knew_  they got away, that they would have made it.  _I_  didn't give up." her voice turns hard toward the end and Daryl has to look away as her knuckles grip the knife in her hand so tight he sees her pale skin turn impossibly whiter.

"You been on your own this whole time?" he questions, not wanting to touch her previous statement with a ten foot pole. That was clearly something she would have to talk with Maggie and Hershel about.

"No," she answers and he expects her to continue, to elaborate but she doesn't say anything more and he gets the feeling that even if he came right out and asked her, she still wouldn't tell him.

Beth Greene clearly had some secrets she didn't feel like sharing and Daryl knew all too well what that was like.

"Why were you out here, all by yourself?" she asks him then, looking up at him.

"Huntin'," he answers and she nods, not seeming to need any more explanation.

"You always go out alone?" she asks with what he deems is probably meant to be innocent curiosity but he can sense something more.

"Pretty much," he answers honestly, his own curiosity getting the best of him. "Ain't no one else knows how to be quiet." he adds in an annoyed tone, thinking of the failed trips he had attempted with anyone else in their group.

She nods and bites her lip. "Ya think maybe, I dunno, maybe I could come along some times? I promise I won't make a peep."

He glances at her but she is once again still staring straight ahead and he wants to answer her, tell her that he already knows she can be quiet because he thought she had snuck away from him a few times already, only to look down and see her walking silently right beside him, but another thought occurs to him first, one that once again has words coming out of his mouth before he can stop them.

"Ain't even got there yet and ya already thinkin' of ways to escape? Haven't even been reunited with yer family, girl." he questions, narrowing his eyes at her, trying to get a read on this strange woman beside him who has done nothing but confuse him since the moment she first shot his crossbow.

"It's not like that," she says quickly, sighing softly. "It's just, I don't know what kinda place ya got here but I just don't like the feeling of bein' caged in too much."

He can't help the snort that escapes him as they step through the last of the trees, the prison now in clear view as they both stop and stare, him down at the woman beside him and her over at the looming prison in front of her.

"Hate ta break it to ya sunshine but, uh," he starts and then trails off, letting her view finish for him.

"Oh." she breathes out, biting that damn lip again.

They start to walk again and as he glances over at her he starts to wonder if maybe he should be worried that even with the knowledge that her family was only a few feet away from her, the light still hasn't returned in those too blue eyes of hers.

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, I will be playing around with the story line a bit, while some scenes you may recognize, they might happen at a later time, or earlier, and some characters may be alive (or dead) and you might not notice it very much in this chapter but the next chapter and the following ones you will. Hope no one minds...it is AU after all!

_..._

_She wasn't sure how long she had been on her own when he found her, her clothes tattered and covered in mud and the blood of the dead and her skin so covered from the elements that he had thought her to be another one of **them** , nearly slicing her head off before she skidded to a halt, one foot slipping beneath the mud of her boot and causing her to drop down to one knee just as the blade from his knife went swooshing in the open space where her throat had been mere seconds before._

_She called it clumsiness._

_He called it luck._

_Neither of them spoke about becoming a team but neither protested it when they still found themselves fighting together a few days later. She was still pretty weak, her injured wrist not having a chance to heal properly from having been sealed and opened back up too many times when she had to fight against the creatures trying to kill her. He was healthy - as healthy as he could be in this world at least - but he didn't mind the advantage of someone having his back, said that after being alone for so long it was nice having someone to talk to again as well._

_He never told her about his past but she told him about hers and after taking shelter in an abandoned fire station for nearly a week - allowing her arm to finally heal up properly, well for the most part, at least - he began to lead her in the direction of the Greene farm, surprising her by telling her they were nearly a five days walk away._

_It was in the beginning of day two that the endless patience he seemed to have finally stripped away and he stopped walking with a sigh, shaking his head in annoyance._

_"Can't do this shit anymore, kid." he muttered._

_Beth's heart immediately sank, the knowledge of knowing her family was that much farther away again. Before she could speak up though, to at least ask him to show her the kindness of pointing her in the right direction, he spoke up again, this time his voice still annoyed but she heard just a hint of playfulness._

_"Yer steps are too damn loud. We'll be goin' through mostly forest and with the way you're stomping through the woods we'll have every dead walking followin' us."_

_"I, um, oh." she stammered out, unsure what to say to that because she hadn't even realized that there was a 'quieter' way to walk than what she had been doing._

_He smirked at her confusion. "You're walking too much with your feet." he said then and she was, of course, more confused at his explanation but she had noticed early on that he wasn't much for stating the facts, instead offering you some sort of strange riddle and then **showing**  you how it made sense._

_She watched fervently as he explained how to move her legs and her feet, how to balance her weight so that she was putting less pressure on the ground, causing less of a noise and she picked it up rather quickly, like he told her he assumed she would, and as they then continued on their trek after his lesson, she immoderately noticed the difference, how she barely heard a sound as they made their way closer to her home, closer to her family._

_They were quiet for a few more hours before he spoke again, his voice rough from the copious amounts of cigarettes she watched him light up. She wasn't sure how but he seemed to have an endless supply, even shoving a few crumpled packs into her hands before they had left, telling her to stow them away in her own bag in case something were to happen to his._

_"Somethin' else I want ya to work on. You need to look where yer goin', payin' close attention to yer surroundings. Just like with yer feet, you're lookin' too much with your eyes. Gotta use those other senses. Gotta feel as much as ya look. Two nights ago, when that herd passed by the station ya told me ya couldn't sleep, said ya had a strange feelin' in your stomach, almost like ya were gonna be sick, remember?"_

_She nodded her head, grimacing as she remembered the way she felt so uneasy, how her stomach had all twisted up inside, just like the one time Maggie had dragged her along to the town fair with the ruse of spending time with her - only to be shoved a handful of ride tickets and a few bucks cash as Maggie dashed away with some boy, her new month fling, and Beth had ate too much cotton candy and pretzels and lemonade and by the time she rode the Ferris wheel for the third time, she had to stumble off and throw up in the garbage can. Yeah, she didn't like the feeling then and she sure didn't like it now._

_"People call that instinct, a gut feelin', gut instinct, s'got alotta names really. S'why you get that tug right here," he explains, poking a finger lightly against her stomach. "Most people got it but most are too dumb to even realize it, let alone pay attention and listen to it. Ya got a good head on your shoulders kid, and from what I've gathered, a good judge of character and with that gut instinct of yours, you'll have no problem stayin' alive out here."_

_"Why are ya tellin' me all this?" she asked then, ignoring the way her cheeks were flaming because of all of his praise._

_"Because I see what you don't. You're a fighter, kid, and a damn strong one at that. Just you wait, once we get ya back to your family, guarantee ya they won't even recognize ya. Just gotta have a little faith in yourself. Now let's get goin', we're losin' daylight." he said then and he picked up the pace a little, causing her to do the same, both of them barely making a sound._

_He looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a grin as she glanced up at him. "Don't you worry kid, I'll make a survivor outta you, yet."_

_She had just grinned then, laughing quietly as she matched his strides and eight days later, when she would end up at her family farm, alone and with his blood on her hands, she would laugh again, at how wrong he had been. She let her anger fuel her as she looked at the run down place she used to call home, now abandoned and littered with the dead, some still even walking. All she saw was red and the feel of his blood on her hands as she slashed her way toward her home, killing every creature that was in her path._

_When she killed every last one and stumbled her way into her old bedroom, just exactly as how she'd left it, she had broken down, crying out ragged, heaving sobs as she thought of the family she had lost and the blood of a good man now on her hands - no matter how hard she scrubbed she would always see his blood on her hands, the first man **alive**  she had to kill. But, when morning light broke and she finally stopped crying, she heard his words in her head again._

_She saw the burned down barn as something else, a distraction that had been made so that the cars that were now missing could flee. She saw the dead lying in the ground - the ones that had been ended before her rage had taken out the rest - were evidence of a battle that had been fought and she felt it then, that gut instinct. She felt it all the way through her bones._

_Her family was alive, she just **knew**  it._

_So she restocked her bag, changed her clothes and wiped away her tears. With a mind set in motion, she vowed that she would never cry again, not until she found her family, safe and sound, just like she knew they were. She was a fighter, a survivor, he had taught her that and she wasn't going to offend the memory of him by doubting what he believed in so strongly._

_She would find them. She just had to have a little faith._

* * *

It was her gut instinct that had her turning around, heading  _toward_  the sounds of the dead instead of away from it. There was a time she might have questioned it but the amount of times her instinct had prevailed, awarding her instead of damaging her, caused her to not think twice. When she came upon the scene in front of her she almost missed the man, the angel wings stiched on the back of his vest were what popped out at her and she had to consider it ironic. She finally finds an angel and now she has to be the one to save him.

She doesn't give the crossbow on the ground a second glance. She had only fired one once and the teacher of that lesson had been an arrogant asshole who doubted she could even lift the weapon, let alone shoot it - and boy, did she prove him wrong - and she was thankful that the owner had already had it pulled back in ready, that was one thing she had not been able to do, even if she did consider herself strong.

The man before her was clearly well trained and the dead dropped beside him like flies but it wasn't hard to realize that even with his strength and stamina, he was clearly out numbered. Just as one of the dead grabbed a hold of his arm, it's jaws getting way too close for Beth's liking she fired the arrow and smirked in approval of herself as it sailed right through the eye socket - a perfect shot.

She noticed the man hesitate slightly, obviously not having expected that but there was no time for him to look behind him because the dead were now beginning to circle him and as effective as he was at trying to hold them off she knew it wouldn't be long before he no longer had his back covered. Once again, it was her instinct that had her dropping the crossbow and swiveling around, pulling her knife out of her sheath at her hip as she threw herself against him, yelling out that she had him covered and together, almost like they had done it before, the two had finished off the small herd against them.

It was only after the threat of the dead had disappeared and she found herself gasping for breath, still pressed up against him that she now realized what other dangers were in store. She knew what this world had done to the men, giving them that sense of superiority that had never quite disappeared fully in the old world but was now back with a new vengeance. In this world, if you were a woman, you were just as worthless and helpless as a child and the men were all to eager to help you out, of course not with demanding  _something_  in return though.

This man had surprised her though, studying her in almost awe as they stood there, her in defense and him in curiosity. They were both guarded sure, but the man never made any move on her and she wasn't sure how, probably that gut instinct of hers, but no matter how dangerous and lethal this man appeared to be, she just knew that he wouldn't harm her. So she had answered his questions and when he had offered to let her follow him, to take her toward shelter and food and other survivors, she had hesitated.

She had been alone, truly alone for awhile now. It had been months since she had come across another survivor and she knew she could make it on her own, had been for some time now. All she had to do was picture Maggie or her Daddy, sometimes even Patricia and Otis, and even on the rare occasion, Jimmy would even pop into her head and she found that strength to push forward, to carry on and continue because she knew they were out there somewhere. She would find them.

Another part of her felt the slight tremble in her fingers though, the gnawing in her tummy as she tried to remember when the last time she had eaten was. Things had gotten real bad these past few weeks and if she were perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't sure how she was still standing at this point, let alone having just helped a stranger fight off the dead and was now stuck in a stare down with him, using a combination of her instinct and good judge of character to help her decide.

She ultimately found herself agreeing and she was pleasantly relieved when she didn't get that uneasy feeling in her stomach as she began to follow the man in the angel winged vest.

Her savior,  _Daryl Dixon_.

She almost snorted at the thought. She barely knew this man yet he wasn't that hard to read and she had a feeling that if she had voiced her statement out loud the man would either glare at her or look at her like she was crazy, maybe even both. He sure as hell wasn't a people person, that much she could tell and with the way he kept glancing back at her, both seeming confused and intrigued she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about her.

She thought things would have been silent the whole way to this place he mentioned but he surprised her, asking her what her name was and she had been so cautious at first. It had been a long time since she had spoken her name, most of her encounters with the remaining human population were never pleasant enough to go about exchanging names and life stories. But all it took was for her to notice how her stomach was still settled, still no warning bells going off that had her telling him and boy, didn't that change things.

That was how she found herself standing at the edge of the forest, a named stranger by her side and an ominous prison in front of her, claiming to house her long-lost family. He began to walk forward again, only allowing her the small moment to observe the building in front of her and even though her stomach was still peachy keen, the survivalist in her couldn't help herself and she suddenly saw herself being led to a  _prison_ , of all places, by a man who could definitely play the role of a criminal and she found herself stopping again, her hand immediately going to her knife and when he notices he turns around, arching an eyebrow in question as he takes in her defensive stance.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" she asks, eyeing him warily, waiting for his next move.

His eyes narrow. "How the hell else would I know all 'bout your family and the farm if I was lyin'?" he questions and she ignores his logic because she knew he was right, it made no sense if this was just some made up ruse to get her to follow him. He watches her and then sighs when she makes no argument, his eyes rolling slightly. "'Sides, don't cha think if I wanted to do somethin' to ya I woulda done it back when I had ya all alone?"

That had her sighing and her arm relaxing back at her side. Men were greedy but they were also selfish. She unfortunately knew firsthand that if a man was in a group but didn't want to share her, well, he would have found ways to shut her up and keep her to himself - of course, that man ended up with a slashed throat and kick in the groin but it still didn't belittle the fact. The man in front of her frowned, as if he knew what she was thinking and didn't like it.

She nodded her head and then the man did as well, turning back around and beginning to lead them closer toward the gate. She admired the scene in front of her, the fences and the traps set up around the outer prison gates and she couldn't help but think of how safe these people must feel here. Just the thought of stepping into that field between the fences and the building had here near smiling with relief - she couldn't imagine what being  _inside_  a concrete building with iron bars for safety must be like.

"Jus' stay close to me," Daryl says lowly, his eyes darting around to make sure none of the mingling dead came too close.

"These people you told me about, how they gonna feel about you bringin' in a stranger?" she asks quietly, her own eyes carefully watching the surroundings.

Beth can't help but think of the last person she had trusted, who she had invited into her camp. She knew from the moment she met him he was gonna be trouble but she was in bad shape and so was he, both of them needed someone to watch their back, even if they were both reluctant. Things had been okay for the short while they were together though, and when she woke up alone that morning she hadn't been the least bit surprised that he had taken off, taking nearly all of the supplies with him but it was the the fact that he had left some of it behind. She knew he wasn't a good person, he had told her just as much when they first ran into each other but the fact that he hadn't left her with nothing told her that somewhere, maybe deep down somewhere, he had some good still left in him.

"They're good people," he assures her, quickly glancing her way and giving her small nod. "Even so, they know just what the world has done ta people, just like you seem to. They won't be so quick ta trust but, you ain't exactly a stranger now either, are ya?" he asks then and she suddenly didn't have anything else to say, just giving him a nod of her own when he looked back at her.

The first person she saw inside the gates was a young boy - no older than thirteen she guessed with shaggy brown hair and wearing a sheriff's hat, she noticed once she got closer - and he seemed to do a double take when he noticed her walking up beside Daryl as he began to pull on a rope, opening up a section of the gate. She followed after Daryl as he hurried inside and then she stood awkwardly to the side as he moved to help the boy close the gate just as a few of the dead began to stumble closer. Once the door was closed the boy once again glanced over at her and she found herself looking back at him curiously.

"Ya know, when ya said you were goin' huntin' I was expectin' you to come back with some meat, not a pretty girl," the boy speaks up in what could only be called as playful cockiness and Beth smiles, feeling her cheeks warm regardless.

Daryl snorts a laugh. "Easy there, Romeo. This girl will tear ya apart. Helped me take down a small herd, was damn near a goner 'fore she showed up."

If Beth wasn't blushing before she sure was now and before she could say anything, either to address the way the boy was looking at her in disbelief, or the way Daryl was looking at her in reluctant awe, another voice spoke up, a feminine voice that was coated with relief and Beth turned around to see an older woman walking towards them, her hair short and gray and a shot gun slung over her shoulder and Beth didn't even realize it when her hand had moved to rest on her knife again.

"Daryl, you're back!" the woman says with a smile, only for it falter once she realizes that there is another person with them. "Who's this?" she asks warily.

"She saved Daryl's ass!" the boy says with a giggle and he narrowly misses Daryl's hand as he reaches out to swat him.

"Watch it, kid. Never said that." he grumbled, glaring at the kid.

"But you just -," he begins to say just as Beth speaks up.

"I don't know, I wouldn't say ya were exactly winnin' before I showed up," Beth teases and this time the man's glare is trained on her and instead of being intimidated she can't help but notice how blue his eyes are.

There is a moment of silence between the group - no one really knowing what to say to that - and finally the woman speaks up, her smile returning as she turns her eyes away from Daryl, looking at Beth again.

"Well, anyone who Daryl trusts is good in my book," she speaks and Beth wonders when it was exactly implied that Daryl actually trusts her, but then she thinks to how he had brought her back here, putting their home, his family, at risk and even if they didn't know her last name, she was sure the act alone spoke volumes for a man seeming as untrusting as Daryl.

"I'm Carol," the woman speaks up again and she sticks her hand out, offering it to Beth and she hesitantly places her hand in hers, shaking it lightly.

"Oh and I'm Carl!" the boy now standing beside her says, his grin bright and causing her own lips to curve into a smile.

"I'm Beth," she says and she tries not to let it get to her when she doesn't see a flash of recognition on either of their faces at the sound of her name, not that she was expecting it of course - these people weren't the family she has been going through hell to search for - but she at least hoped that Maggie had mentioned her enough for it to spur a hint of _something_.

They just smile at her though and she just smiles back, trying to keep her face neutral and it isn't until she glances over at Daryl and sees the look on his face that she begins to wonder if he knew what she was once again thinking. The woman pulls her hand away and Beth lets her own fall to her side once again, now deeming these people in front of her harmless at the moment.

"So, were ya plannin' on stickin' around here?" Carol asks then and if they notice the way Beth hesitates just slightly, they don't mention it, well, except for the slight quirk of an eyebrow that she notices from Daryl and she begins to wonder if the man actually could read her mind.

"I'm hopin' to," Beth says and gives her another - albeit smaller - smile.

The woman glances at Daryl then and Carl is just staring at her and just looks over at him, raising her eyebrow and he looks away and Beth can't help but smirk when she notices him begin to blush.

"Well c'mon then, let's get inside and meet everyone." Carol says cheerfully and then she looks at Beth again, her eyes roaming over her body and Beth stiffens. "But maybe, maybe it would be better if ya didn't bring in your weapons." she says then and Beth's breath catches in her throat.

Even though it was said politely, no hidden meaning behind that simple request, Beth can't help but suddenly feel cornered and she takes a step back, her hand grabbing her knife and when she feels herself knock into someone behind her, she almost turns around, ready to defend herself until she feels a pair of strong hands on her hips, keeping her in place and even though she had been half crazed with disbelief the last time she felt them, she knew they belonged to Daryl and she felt herself relax almost instantly.

"Easy," his rough voice murmurs quietly, only for her to hear and he speaks up to Carol. "Ain't gotta do that."

Carol seems hesitant but she nods after a brief moment, obviously trusting Daryl's judgement and when Beth feels Daryl's hand slip from her waist she glances over to him as he steps to stand beside her and she bites her lip but nods her head as well.

"As long as ya promise not to hold no knives ta anyone's throats again, I reckon it'll be alright," he says pointedly and she is surprised when she sees the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips and she hardly notices Carol's worried glance at Daryl's neck when he moves his eyes down to where Beth was unconsciously resting her hand on her knife again.

Before anyone can say anything else they are once again interrupted by another voice, a shout from closer toward the prison and Beth immediately recognizes it. Her heart beat seems to stutter and her breath leaves her lungs in a gasp and she finds herself stepping aside from the small group around her, angling around to get a glimpse of the woman stalking toward them.

"Carl! You're gonna make your mama go into early labor with ya always runnin' off now hurry up in get inside!"

Maggie is just how Beth remembers her, a little more dirty and definitely a bit more rough around the edges but when she looks at the brunette with striking green eyes - eyes that had been filled with such horror and sadness the last time she had seen them - she sees her sister. Her older, annoying sister who sometimes cared more about boys than she did about Beth but at the end of the day, she always knew that if it ever came down to it, Maggie would always pick her over them. At least she had thought so, now, she wasn't so sure. The world had changed people - Beth was a prime example of that - and she couldn't help but wonder just how much the world had changed her sister as well.

She saw the moment Maggie caught sight of her, shifting her gaze from Carl at her side up to the new face among the crowd. At first, she was certain Maggie didn't even recognize her with the way her gaze turned curious and cautious, cocking her head slightly and then she froze, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head and even though she was still a few feet away from them, Beth was certain she saw tears forming in those jade colored orbs.

"Beth?" her voice is merely a whisper, so much so that Beth is sure she doesn't actually hear her, instead just sees the way her mouth moves in shocked disbelief and she hears Daryl's words echo in her head.

_Hell, I wouldn't even put it past Maggie ta go an faint or some shit._

"Beth!"

Maggie doesn't faint though, instead she propels herself forward, her feet slapping against the pavement and when she slams into Beth, her arms wrapping around her she has to put all her strength into bracing herself to keep them from tumbling down to the ground. Maggie is sobbing into her neck and she hears her voice.  _It's not possible, we thought ya were gone, it's a miracle_. And even though Beth has her arms around her sister just as tightly, she can't help but feel numb, her eyes dry.

She isn't even sure when it happens but suddenly Maggie is pulling on her hand, tugging her along and her grip is so tight Beth has to hold back a wince. Things seem to pass by in slow motion as Maggie leads her into the prison, still crying and babbling hysterics the whole way and Beth barely pays attention to her surroundings until she suddenly finds herself in what appears to be a makeshift cafeteria, tables scattered throughout the room and a lot of unfamiliar faces staring back at her. Well, all but one.

She sees her Daddy sitting down, looking at them in concern - no doubt because Maggie was still blubbering - and when she see his eyes soften, in recognition at what he is looking at Beth can't help but smile. He looks a lot older than her did before, now with longer hair and a beard to match. She sees the pair of crutches propped up against the table beside him and it's only then that she looks down, finally noticing the reason why he hadn't come up to her like Maggie had.

"Oh, Daddy," she hears herself say and this time she is the one running forward, now pulling Maggie behind her - because she still hasn't let go of the death grip she has on her hand.

Beth all but collapses against him, breathing in his familiar smell and relishing in the arms now wrapped around her. She was finally home. And she was sure the three of them looked real silly all tangled up in limbs and Maggie was still crying -  _of course_ , though it seemed odd to her because she had always seen Maggie as the tough one - and she can hear her Daddy murmuring something in her ear - no doubt religious of course because even though she couldn't hear him over Maggie's sobs she just had a feeling - and she felt his tears on her neck and Beth was happy, truly happy, she was finally back with her family, after all this time but even with the feeling of Maggie and Daddy wrapped around her, holding her tight, she couldn't help but notice how it felt almost  _wrong,_ like something was off.

Beth had pictured her reunion with her family quite a few times. She always saw herself crying happy tears and her Daddy would be so grateful that she found her way back to him, and Maggie would be looking at her with this sort of awe because she would finally notice that her baby sister wasn't such a baby anymore. She expected "coming home" to them to feel more like, well, _coming home_. Like the summer she went to band camp for the first time and when she came home after four weeks away she had cried when she had finally come back home, so happy to be reunited with her family again.

This wasn't a reunion though.

_They already had a grave for ya._

Maggie had said it herself, this was a  _miracle_. Beth wasn't supposed to be alive right now. They had pegged her as dead the moment she got separated from Maggie. This wasn't the cries of rejoice for a lost girl finding her way home. No, instead they were sobs of shock, of surprise, at a girl returning from the dead. All this time she had imagined that her family would be proud of her, for fighting her way back to them, instead they were crying because they honestly had never thought she had survived.

Beth had made a promise to herself a long time ago. She would not cry anymore. At least not until she found her family again. Well, she had found her family, they had her wrapped up in their arms. They were crying, hell, Beth was pretty sure Maggie might even be hyperventilating at this point but as she wrapped her arms tighter around her Daddy's neck, she could only focus on one thing.

Beth Greene still didn't cry anymore.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This turned out a lot longer than I originally planned but I really wanted to get in that flashback at the beginning (and just a little note, the man Beth meets is just someone I made up and you will learn more about him later on...but he isn't the only person who will help her along in her journey...and a few of them will be a little more familiar *hint, hint, wink, wink*) and the next chapter should pick up where this one left off since I was planning on the reunion actually being much longer but Beth's thoughts just got away from me!


	4. Chapter 4

...

* * *

Beth wasn't sure how long they stood there, the Greene family together once again, wrapped up in each other's embrace but it wasn't long before she realized that there was an audience. And sure, she was mad, so mad that her family had given up on her and of course she wanted to confront them about it but she knew now was not the time. Now, she had her Daddy in arm's reach and Maggie clinging to her side and as she glanced around at all the faces staring back at her - some looking confused and others looking genuinely happy, big smiles on their faces, some a mixture of both - she couldn't help but notice that beside the people already in front of her, no one else looked familiar.

It was that realization that had her pulling away - though not far - and Maggie took a step away, wiping at her face and sniffling and Beth was thankful that she had finally stopped crying. She looks down at her Daddy who has tears on his face and a smile that she had only dreamed of seeing again these past few months and she gave him her own sad smile.

"Patricia and Otis?" she whispers in question. "Jimmy?"

Hershel just shakes his head and Beth nods. She was sad of course but if she were being honest, she had already lost them a long time ago and having it confirmed now, well it wasn't that hard to digest. Jimmy had been her boyfriend and sure she cared about him but she knew that the only reason they had been together so long was because the world turned to shit and she had loved Otis and Patricia like they were her aunt and uncle, they had been a part of the family for just as long as she had but they weren't her real family. They weren't the faces she saw when she went to sleep at night. She saw her Mama and Shawn more than she saw them and she had already known they were gone.

She had left the farm that day thinking that the family and friends in her barn were just sick, that one day a cure would come around and they would be a complete family again but it didn't take long once she was out on her own, fighting for her life to realize that her Daddy had been horribly mistaken. Her Mama and brother had been dead since the moment they had to be placed in that barn, away from the rest of them. She had grieved for that loss a few times out there on her own but that was a long time ago and she now knew that people dying, it was unfortunately a common thing now.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had Beth turning around to see a man standing behind them. His stance seemed casual as he placed his hands on his hips but Beth got the feeling that he had some power here. His face was hard to read but he had kind eyes and a small smile on his lips as he glanced at Maggie and Hershel before his eyes fell on her, his gaze curious as he takes in her appearance.

"Rick," Hershel speaks up behind her. "This is my youngest daughter Beth."

Rick grins then, taking a few steps toward her and holding his hand out and Beth had to remind herself that she could trust these people - it was clear her Daddy did and her Daddy was no fool.

"Nice to meet ya Beth. I'm Rick Grimes. I've heard quite a bit about you." he says and Beth tentatively places her hand in his as they shake.

"Hello," she says, giving him a small smile.

"How?" Beth hears Maggie whisper beside her and she looks over to see Maggie staring at her in wonder, shaking her head slightly. "Beth how did you make it out there? By yourself?"

Beth shifts on her feet, suddenly feeling all the eyes and ears in the room on her. She shrugs her shoulders and bites her lip, wondering just how she could answer that question.

"I just did," she finally says, taking in a deep breath. "I didn't have any other choice. I had to find you guys."

"How  _did_  you find us?" A voice speaks up and Beth looks behind Rick to see a skinny brunette walking up toward them and Beth nearly flinches in shock when she sees the woman's large belly. "I'm Lori, by the way, Rick's wife."

"I didn't," she answers, looking around the room until she finds Daryl leaning against the wall, standing next to the grey haired woman she met earlier. "I found Daryl." she says then and she can't help the small laugh that bubbles out at the end of her sentence.

"Well that musta been terrifying."

This time Beth looks over to see an Asian man come up and stand next to Maggie and he runs his hand down her arm until Maggie turns her own hand and their fingers lock together and Beth tilts her head slightly at the gesture, wondering what kind of relationship the two shared.

"Ay, watch it," Daryl speaks up and he gives a glare toward the other man who just grins.

There is suddenly a loud crash behind them and Beth jumps, flinching away from Maggie's hand as she reaches out to her and she sees a heavyset black man coming from a small room beside the cafeteria, looking sheepishly down at the metal bowl he had just dropped against the concrete floor but Beth doesn't really see that. She isn't in the prison anymore, surrounded by her family and people she doesn't have to fear.

Instead she is in a dark, rundown gas station, her hand clutching her knife and her chest heaving as she tries desperately to quiet her pants of breath. She flinches with each item the man is flinging off the shelves, laughing as his voice gets louder and louder, closer and closer and she presses herself further against the wall behind her.

_"Come out, come out, where ever you are."_

_His voice is taunting and she feels tears well in her eyes but she just brings her knife closer to her chest, biting her lip and nearly holding her breath._

_"Why'd ya run girl? Thought we was havin' fun. But don't you worry girlie..."_

_There is one more loud crash before the station suddenly goes quiet and Beth can't help but wish she could stop the beating of her heart because it is pounding so loud right now she is sure he can hear it._

_"I like it better when you scream."_

_The voice is right next to her, it's toxic stench dripping across her skin and when she feels a cold, rough hand grab her arm she lets out her breath in a high pitched scream, falling right into his trap._

"Beth!"

She jerks at the sound of Maggie's voice and even though she is back in the prison she still snatches her arm away from her sister and she stumbles back, her hand immediately going for her knife but before she can reach it another hand reaches out and grabs her wrist, the grip strong and warm and she quickly looks over to see Daryl standing next to her, his eyes imploring her own as he takes a step closer toward her, his hand giving her wrist a small squeeze before he leans in toward her, the fabric of his flannel rubbing up against her arm.

"You're a'right." he whispers and she nods her head, trying to calm the gasps that were escaping out of her throat.

"Bethy?"

She looks over at the sound of her Daddy's voice and that's when she sees the worried looks that everyone is giving her.

"I'm sorry," she gasps out, taking a deep breath to try and stop the way her chest is heaving as she tries to push the dark memories away and when she catches the slight whiff of cigarette smoke she finally feels herself relax. "I'm okay, I'm sorry. I'm okay."

"When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

Beth could just kiss Lori with the way the woman butts right in, not leaving any room to talk about her panic attack and even though she can tell her Daddy and Maggie are just seeming to realize that she isn't that same little girl they last saw on the farm, she doesn't want them to ask questions and she doesn't want to talk about it and so when she just gives Lori a shrug, shaking her head slightly she is thankful when the woman flutters about, waving her hands around like this is the worst news she has ever heard and it's like something shifts then, like the world is right again in this prison where she has found her family and for the first time in a long time, she can suddenly breathe again.

* * *

There was a time once where Beth could never be quiet in a crowd. She always liked to weave her way into conversations and be in the middle of everything going on and up until she got separated from her sister in a botched run to town and Beth can't even remember what exactly it was that they even went there for - probably something stupid she is sure but back then, they didn't realize just how dangerous the world was.

Now though, Beth likes to be quiet, to sit off toward the side and watch the people around her, study them. She watches as lunch is served all around and even though she pretests when she sees the large serving Carol had given her - to which the woman just smiled and walked away, ignoring her completely in a "this isn't even an argument" kind of way - she eats greedily. She eats in silence and she watches in silence and she is so quiet that she isn't surprised no one has noticed that she has moved to one of the farther tables - at least until Maggie comes and plops herself down across from her and Beth's eyes narrow slightly before she catches herself and she sits up, returning the smile that Maggie is giving her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Maggie asks after a moment of shared silence between the two sisters and Beth feels herself stiffen.

Did she want to talk about what? There were so many things Beth wanted to talk about, most of them being how in the hell they could have just written her off as dead, going so far as have a grave for her without the proof of her dead body.

"No," she mutters, looking back down at the bowl of rice in front of her, suddenly not as hungry as she thought.

"Beth," she starts but Beth quickly shakes her head, bringing her hand up.

"Just, not right now, alright Maggie?" she says then and if Maggie notices that the exhaustion and hesitation in her voice is just an act, she doesn't mention it.

"I'm glad you're here," Maggie says then, her voice low and quiet and Beth looks up and she swears she sees guilt in her eyes.

"Me too," Beth answers truthfully because no matter how upset she was over her families actions, the truth of the matter was tonight she would be sleeping in a safe place with her sister and father just in arm's reach.

_"I'm gonna find 'em ya know, I will." she tells him, narrowing her eyes at him as he cleans his knife._

_"You keep tellin' yourself that darlin'," he drawls, not looking at her._

_"I will," she repeats, her voice firm. "I'll find 'em and then we'll finally all be safe together."_

_He snorts. "Findin' your family don't mean shit, girl. It ain't gonna make ya magically safe neither. Ain't no place in this world is ever gonna be safe, no matter who ya got watchin' your ass."_

"Beth, did ya hear what I said?"

Beth blinks as she looks up at Maggie who is watching her with a confused expression.

"Sorry," she mutters, rubbing at her eye. "I'm just pretty tired."

"Well, once we're done here we can go and get ya some clean clothes and then I'll take ya down to the showers, no offense but ya kinda stink." Maggie smirks as she wrinkles her nose and just as Beth is about to respond back with a sassy comment of her own it suddenly registers what Maggie has said.

"Showers?" she asks skeptically and her voice hopeful.

Maggie grins. "Yep. It ain't even that cold either."

Beth smiles then and she would have been happy to spend the rest of her dinner dreaming about actually being clean for the first time in who knows how long but then she looks over and sees her Daddy hobble in the cafeteria - and she realizes she still hasn't found out what happened to his leg - and Rick and Daryl are following behind him and she notices a shift in the atmosphere, almost as if someone had flipped a switch from casual to serious and she turns in her seat to face the three of them fully when they stop in the front of the room.

Beth catches Daryl's eyes as he leans back against the wall, crossing one leg in front of the other and he seems surprised when she doesn't immediately look away. After a moment she gives him a faint smile, trying to express her gratitude for the way he was able to help her calm down earlier and she tries not to think of what could have happened if he hadn't of stepped in when he did - she very nearly pulled a knife on her own sister. He nods his head at her, barely a move of his chin but she sees it and she isn't sure why she feels such a pull toward this man who was still more a stranger to her than a friend but she has also learned that these days, finding someone whom you can trust - no matter how little you know about them - is a very rare thing and shouldn't be questioned.

"Alright," Rick speaks up, his voice full of authority and Beth concludes that her early assumption had been right and Rick was this group's leader. "We've held off as long as we can but now that we've got most of the prison secure we really need to make a run. Daryl said he spotted some places that might be promising on his last hunt but we still need a few more volunteers."

A few people raise their hands and Beth hears Maggie sigh when the Asian guy - who had introduced himself as Glenn - is one to do so and Beth is once again reminded that she still has so much to ask her sister. Her Daddy speaks up then, mentioning that with Lori being so close to delivering that the most important things the group should be looking out for is medical supplies and before she realizes it Beth is placing her hand in the air.

"I'd like to help," she says and she ignores all the looks of surprise that come her way - everyone except for Daryl, who Beth is pretty sure has a small smirk on his lips, is looking at her like she has just told them she thinks the world is flat and even though she feels the need to shift away from their gaze she keeps her shoulders steady.

"I'm quick and light on my feet and I've pretty much been around everywhere. I might even be able to lead ya to some places I know haven't been ransacked too much."

"You sure you're up for this Beth?" Rick asks her, his eyebrows rising in concern. "You've been out there awhile and you certainly don't have nothing to prove."

Before Beth can even get a word in Maggie is speaking up, her voice holding that older sister tone that Beth had hated before all this and now it just made her furious.

"Beth you can't."

"Why not?" she asks, cocking her head to the side and giving Maggie a look, a look that certainly matched her stubborn attitude. "And don't you give me this bullshit on how it's dangerous or how I just found you again because believe me, I  _know_. I've been out there on my own, searching for you. I can do this and you ain't gonna stop me."

"Fine. Then I'm going with ya." Maggie argues, raising her eyebrows in a challenge.

"No you're not," Beth responds. "If you go out there with me you're gonna be so focused on tryin' to protect me that you won't be thinkin' straight. It'll be a risk and I ain't a kid no more Maggie, I don't need anyone lookin' out for me."

"That's enough girls."

Both of the sisters glance over at Hershel who is giving them an exasperated look.

"Daddy you can't honestly think this is a good idea," Maggie says and Beth has to bite her lip.

"Beth can make her own decisions Maggie, just like you can, she's right on that and she certainly has a point. She seems to have been taking care of her self pretty well without you protectin' her."

"But Daddy!"

"Maggie stop!" Beth nearly shouts. "I'm going and you can't stop me!" she states and then looks over at Rick who surprisingly seems to have found this whole exchange amusing. "If it's alright with Rick of course," she adds then, suddenly remembering that he had never given her an answer before Maggie butted in.

Ricks puts his hands up, shaking his head. "I'll be stayin' here with Lori, just in case anythin' happens. Daryl is taking the lead on this run, if he's okay with ya comin' along, I don't mind none."

Instead of glancing over at Daryl, like she can feel everyone else doing she drops her gaze down in front of her because while Daryl has seen that she can handle herself he has also seen how easily she can snap, not to mention her and her sister just fought like a couple of kids and now she is feeling real silly for thinking that going on this run would be a good idea because like Rick said, she didn't have anything to prove - at least not in her opinion - but that didn't mean she still didn't want to show these people that she wasn't just another dead girl. She can carry her weight and help out around this prison, even if no one is expecting her to.

She suddenly feels his gaze on her though and she finally looks up, immediately locking in on those stormy blues and she bites her lip.

Finally he speaks up, his rough voice carrying across the space between them.

"She already had my back once, wouldn't mind her havin' it again," Daryl shrugs and looks back at Rick, keeping the answer as simple as that and Beth grins.

Ricks nods his head and they continue to discuss the run and she is trying to pay attention but she can feel the way Maggie is glaring at her and when she finally caves and looks over at her, she is surprised that she looks more sad than anything.

"You've changed." she says quietly, frowning as her eyebrows furrow, almost as if she is seeing her for the first time and Beth finds herself frowning as well.

"Who hasn't?"

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	5. Chapter 5

Beth lets out a gasp as the water rushes down on her skin, the cool liquid causing an eruption of goose pimples to rise on her skin and she closes her eyes, her lips lifting just barely in an awed smile. She is actually taking a shower. And sure, Maggie was right, the water wasn't that cold but it certainly wasn't anywhere near as warm as Beth wished it was but it was a  _shower_.

The last time Beth remembers washing up was a few weeks ago maybe, when she had stumbled upon a small creek and after refilling her water bottles that had been empty for nearly two days she had succumbed to the cool icy water and had jumped in, keeping her knife in her hand and enough clothes on - because it was no where near safe for her to strip down to the skin when she was alone like this - and she didn't have any soap and she didn't stay in long, just enough to wash away the sweat that had been dripping down on her on that brutal summer day, but she had been cleaner than she had been before and that was all that mattered.

"Beth? Ya almost done?" Maggie's voice interrupts her thoughts and she snaps her eyes open, looking over her shoulder to where she had heard Maggie's voice.

_Done? She had barely just started._

"Can I have a few more minutes?" Beth asks, her voice softer and she isn't even ashamed to admit that it came out more like a plead than a question.

Maggie laughs. "Been a long time, huh? I think we were all the same way when we took our first showers after Daryl finally got it rigged and runnin'."

Beth mind wanders at the sound of the man's name. The man who had offered her safety and a home without knowing her name, even after she had placed a knife at his throat and everything. She couldn't help but wonder what he saw, what it was that made him think she was worthy of such an offer. She couldn't say it was because of her Daddy because Daryl hadn't even known who she was - the lost Greene girl - until after they had started walking, leading them toward the place she was certain was a myth.

She couldn't blame her looks either - and she didn't mean that in a vain way, not at all, she knew she wasn't anything to look at, certainly not with how long she had been camping out in the woods before he found her - but the men she had come across before, sometimes when she was more dirtied up than she was now had certainly told her how delicious and sweet she looked, always in the crudest way imaginable.

Daryl hadn't looked at her like that, like she was some piece of meat to be devoured. He had just looked at her and instead of seeing her curves or exposed skin he actually saw the dirt, the grime, the pain she seemed to have gone through and she wonders how he became to be such a person where something like that was more noticeable to him than the able body in front of him. She had a feeling that it wasn't anything good, the reason he was much harder and more stoic than the other men - if you can even call them that - she met along the way. Because yes, he may have not been looking to defile her in anyway but she could see that the man was rough, that he didn't show emotions well, didn't want to appear weak, and she had recognized that in him - that he had been through hell just like her, only she was sure his hell occurred way before the world burned to shit and a whole new kind of hell rose from it's ashes.

"Beth? Did ya hear me?"

Maggie voice once again ripped through her mind and she has to resist the urge to sigh.

"What?" she mutters, wincing at the harshness in her voice but she can't help it, for months now the only person she had to answer to was herself and now she had her sister breathing down her neck.

"I said we can't stay down here too long, I promised Daddy I'd help him with lookin' after Lori, he's been teachin' me things, in case something happens and he isn't around," Maggie says and Beth pinches the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

"Maggie you can go. I'll be fine on my own, don't need a babysitter," she mutters and if Maggie picks up on her annoyance she doesn't say anything.

"It's fine Beth, just hurry up and let's go," Maggie insists and Beth clenches her fist around the shampoo bottle.

"I don't wanna hurry up Maggie," she suddenly explodes, slamming the shampoo bottle down on the small shelf. "I want to enjoy my shower and I don't need ya to stand there and keep watch. I've been alone in much worse places than an already cleared prison shower and even so, I have my knife." she actually had three at the moment but she wasn't sure Maggie really needed to know just how paranoid Beth had become. "Just go."

There is a moment of silence and Beth runs the shampoo through her hair, scrubbing it into her roots and lathering it all around, resisting the urge to moan at the feeling.

"Alright," Maggie finally says, her voice soft and quiet - Beth barely heard her over the spray of the water - and for a moment Beth thinks she should feel bad, about snapping at her sister so soon into finding her again but then she remembers,  _Beth_  had found _her_.

Maggie hadn't been looking for her at all.

Even so, she does will herself to speak, before she hears Maggie leaving, offering not exactly an apology, but an assurance.

"I'll come find ya when I'm done, ain't goin' nowhere." she says and she hears Maggie pause at the door before pulling it open silently and letting it snap shut behind her.

She closes her eyes again and steps back under the spray of the water, enjoying the way she can just feel how the layers of dirt and grime and blood seem to just melt away, slide right off of her and she wishes that it was all that easy, that just as the cool water washed away the dirt on her skin, it could also wash away all the memories of the not-so-distance past and the sleepless nights and all the other horrors her skin has been witness to since the moment she let go of Maggie's hand that day they went into town.

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* * *

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"How are ya feelin' Bethy?" Hershel asks and Beth looks up from cleaning her knife, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I feel clean," she offers and Hershel gives her a small chuckle but she can see in his eyes that that wasn't what he meant.

He glances down at the knife in her hands - the third weapon she had pulled out to clean from where she kept them hidden on her body - and he frowns. She grips the knife tighter, scrubbing it a little harder because she knows what was coming next, even before Maggie came and sat down with them, next to Hershel - two against one - and Beth has to remind herself that she can't think like that, this is her _family_. She knows they are not going to hurt her, annoy her and baby her yes, but they would never hurt her, at least not intentionally.

"How are you doin'?" Maggie asks, pushing a bottle of water in front of her and Beth glares down at it.

"I'm fine," she mutters, clenching her jaw slightly.

"Maggie told me she saw some bruises on you earlier, is there anything you want me to look at for you?" Hershel asks then and Beth sucks in a sharp breath, wondering just how much Maggie had seen but she figures she hasn't seen the worst of it if they were both being this calm toward her - she kept her back to Maggie most of the time anyway.

Beth shakes her head. "Just a couple of bruises from climbing through a window a few days ago," Beth speaks lowly, keeping her attention on the knife that was already clean. "Nothin' worse than that, nothin' I couldn't handle."

She looks up then and she sees the way they are both looking at her. They're looking at the scar on her wrist and the faint bruises on her skin - to be honest she doesn't even know where or how half of them came from - and she can see it, that pity, that sadness and it makes her angry. Once again they aren't looking at her like someone who has fought for her life and earned a few battle wounds in the process.

They see a ghost, a ghost of a little girl who once wore bright colored sundresses and bows in her hair and giggled at the most random things. Beth wasn't that girl anymore, she hadn't been for a long time and she never planned on turning back into her either. She wasn't the baby who needed to be coddled and adored and her family needed to start seeing that before she just up and left one night because she hadn't even been in this prison - reunited with her family again - for more than twenty four hours and already she felt smothered, felt like an outsider, like maybe things would have been better for everyone if they just believed she was still dead because while they weren't expecting her to return, they sure as hell weren't expecting her to return as a whole new person, one who can hold her own and has been through so much worse than probably they have.

"Please stop lookin' at me like that," she hears herself say and she is shocked when she feels the burn of tears behind her eyes - she wouldn't cry though. Beth Greene didn't cry.

"We should talk about it, Beth," Maggie says gently.

"About what?" Beth asks tersely.

"What happened out there." she replies.

Beth slams the knife down on the table, causing them all to jump. "What happened out there?" she asks incredulously. "You really wanna know? Because I don't wanna talk about it. What happened was we got surrounded and you ran one way and I ran the other and one of us made it home while the other didn't. I'm here now though, isn't that all that matters? You didn't care about it then, why care about it now?"

"Beth," Hershel begins but she shakes her head and stands up, quickly sliding her knife into the sheath on her waist.

"I don't _ever_  wanna talk about it," she says, her voice low and she turns away then, walking toward the exit.

She feels eyes on her then and she looks up to see the two prisoners staring at her, following her every move and that was another thing that didn't sit right with her. Maggie had told her a little bit, how they had found a group of prisoners and after some sort of "misunderstanding" only two remained, both claiming to not want to harm them and Beth thought it was all bullshit. You don't just trust outsiders,  _prisoners_  from a  _prison_  you claimed no less. She knew it was only a matter of time before something happened and she only hoped it wouldn't cost them too much.

She altered her course slightly as she saw the man with the hideous looking mustache still staring at her while the other - a large black man - had turned his attention away from her. The man almost seemed excited to see her walking toward their table and she narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a hard glare as she stopped next to him and she saw his eyes widen slightly, a surprised fear flooding over them.

"Can I help you with somethin'?" she asks, her voice harsh even to her own ears.

The man quickly shakes his head and looks just over her shoulder and Beth turns slightly to see Daryl walking in, eyeing the exchange with curiosity. Beth turns back around and leans down, resting her hand on the table as she got right up in the man's face. She rose an eyebrow, pressuring him to speak up.

"No, ma'am," the man quickly says and Beth just stares at him.

"Then you best quit lookin' at me like I can," she says and she knows he can hear the threat in her voice, knows that she is using the tone that has saved her ass more than once out there and she isn't surprised when the black man snaps his head up at them, his eyes wide in shock - no doubt just like all the men before him, thinking she was just a helpless little girl - and nor is she surprised when the other man's eyes widen even more and he looks down right terrified as she turns away and continues toward the exit once again, ignoring Maggie calling her name.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Daryl opens the door and steps outside and very nearly turns around and walks right back inside when he sees her sitting down on the ground but he knows she heard him - even if she hasn't turned to acknowledge him - and leaving now would just make him look stupid, or weird. So he lets the door swing shut behind him and he quietly begins to make his way over to the clean looking blonde twirling that small pocket knife in her hand again - something he noticed she did a lot in the short time he has known her.

Maggie had dragged Beth away sometime after lunch, yelling something about showering toward Hershel and Glenn and as Daryl looks down at the girl sitting cross legged against the wooden barrier of the small bridge connecting the cell blocks, he is almost shocked by how different she looks now. He had caught a glimpse of her in the cafeteria - not enough to see what he sees now - talking to one of the prisoners and he wasn't sure what she had said but Axel certainly looked terrified once she walked away, not even glancing back at Maggie who was calling her name and seeing her now, he swears this can't be the same girl he found in the woods earlier. Her skin is no longer covered in grime and dirt, now showing smooth, pale skin that Daryl was pretty sure seemed unnatural on someone who seemed to have been living outdoors for months.

Her long blonde hair was much lighter than he had originally thought now that it wasn't splattered in mud and she had it pulled back in a much cleaner pony tail than it was before, a small braid tucked in on the side. For the first time since meeting her, Daryl could actually see the youth in the girl, her body and face no longer guarded and tense as he continued to make his way over to her, her knife still twirling in one hand and he noticed now she was clutching something else in the other.

She still hadn't turned toward him and Daryl was beginning to wonder if maybe she hadn't heard him come out after all. She was still just staring blankly ahead, her fingers fiddling with the knife, the only movement he could see. She seemed almost in a trance and when Daryl stopped right next to her, towering over her, he felt a hint of concern run through him and he started reaching his hand out, planning on just poking her shoulder - and most likely taking a huge step back in case she suddenly decides she wants to push a knife against his throat again.

It happens so suddenly - and so unexpectedly - Daryl nearly jumps when her hand is suddenly wrapped around his wrist. He even stumbles slightly, leaning down towards her, as she gives him a hard yank and he half expects that damn knife of hers to be on his throat like he thought but she finally turns her head toward him, their faces close together because of how she pulled him, and he sees her lips rise in a slow smirk.

Daryl just stares at her, feeling her breath hitting his face and she finally drops her hand away and when she arches an eyebrow at him he straightens back up, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Ya got good reflexes," he admits gruffly.

"Kinda important these days, huh?" she asks with a playful smile and Daryl just grunts, leaning back against the wooden board against the fence.

She picks up her knife again - having let it fall to her lap when she grabbed him - and began twirling it around again and he can't help but wonder if there was a story behind it. Then, he feels like an idiot for thinking so much into some nervous habit the woman seemed to have. She turns her head back out toward the field in front of them, her eyes narrowing as she watches the few walkers moaning and banging against the outer fences. He finally catches sight of the other object she was holding, her fingers tapping against the plastic covered cardboard and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Ya smoke?" he asks in near disbelief, eyeing the pack of cigarettes in her hand.

For a moment she seems confused by his question before she suddenly looks down, as if forgetting that she had the small box in her hands.

"Oh, ah, no, I just," she hesitates, swallowing loudly before clearing her throat. "Never mind, it's dumb." she continues then, shaking her head and he almost questions her but she speaks again before he gets the chance. "Do you?"

He gives a rough shrug. "When I can find 'em. Ain't exactly easy to come by these days."

She laughs quietly before she holds her hand up, offering him the pack. "Here. I've got more in my bag too. I guess I don't have much use for them anymore anyways."

"What do ya got 'em for anyhow?" he questions, reaching out to take them from her.

He sees the moment she tenses up, her eyes seeming to drift away for a brief moment before she takes in a sharp breath, letting her now empty hand fall limp at her side and she shrugs, biting her lip.

"There was a man I met, towards the beginnin' and we stuck together for a little while. He loved his smokes. Always seemed to find some where ever we went, I swear he had like a radar for it or something," she shakes her head, smiling slightly. "I guess he just knew all the right places to look. He had given me some to keep safe and I even began to look for 'em myself. Old habits die hard I guess, I still find myself lookin' for them now."

"What happened to him?" Daryl asks stupidly, ripping off the plastic covering and trying to ignore the small shock he had gotten over the fact that she had actually shared something about her past with him. He looks down at her to see her frowning, her eyes holding a small glimmer of that pain he had noticed before and he curses inwardly. "Sorry." he mumbles, digging in his pocket for his lighter.

She shrugs again, her face softening. "It's okay," she says quietly and then she smiles sadly. "I owe him a lot; he's the main reason I think I survived this long on my own, taught me a lot."

"Was wonderin' about that," Daryl admits with a small nod, finally pulling his lighter out.

She chews on her lip. "He didn't teach me everything though. Had to learn some stuff on my own." she says then and he pulls his attention away from lighting the cigarette as he hears the tone of her voice and he inhales deeply when he notices the haunted look in her eyes.

He thought back to that moment in the cafeteria a little while ago. T-dog had gone and dropped something, causing a noise that even had him instinctively reaching for his knife. He had recovered quickly though but Beth, she had completely checked out, her eyes clouding over and he wasn't even sure why he had looked over at her in the first place, nor was he sure why the hell he suddenly began walking toward her either.

When she had checked back in, returning for what he could only assume was a memory of some kind - and not a good one, at that - he immediately saw her reaching for her knife, obviously not remembering where she now was and he had somehow managed to calm her down, something that even surprised him.

He wasn't sure why but something about this damn woman was messing with his head, causing him to do things he wouldn't normally do, that much he had figured out by the looks Carol had given him - both when he had first brought Beth in and then again in the cafeteria, after releasing her wrist once he was sure she wasn't gonna knife anyone. He ignored her though, brushing her off both times. He didn't even know what was happening, he sure as hell wouldn't be able to explain it Carol.

The two of them were quiet after that, Daryl not knowing what to say and Beth clearly not wanting to explain. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, twirling that damn knife again and there was a small part of him that just wanted to reach out and make her stop. He shook his head at that thought.

He was surprised when he heard a small laugh bubble out of the woman sitting down on the ground beside him and he glanced down, furrowing his brow as he tossed his cigarette away. He squinted down at her, wondering if maybe she had finally lost her mind or something.

"Ya know," she spoke, her laughter cutting off and her face forming an expression that he wasn't sure was a grimace, a frown, a confused smile, or maybe, a mix of all three. "I'd never planned on telling anyone about that, about anything really. I don't really like to think about it let alone talk about it but here I am, telling you of all people, I mean, don't take that the wrong way or nothin', it's just, you didn't really strike me as someone who likes to partake in conversations," she laughed again but now it just sounded more like an exhausted delirium was settling in.

"I ain't," he admitted gruffly, feeling his own face crumble in confusion as he realized that he  _had_  just spent the last few minutes talking to the woman and not only that but he was generally interested in what she had to say, in piecing together the puzzle that Beth Greene had suddenly become to him.

"Can I tell ya somethin'?" she says after a moment of silence and he just glances down at her, raising an eyebrow and she smiles briefly before she looks away from him and she finally stops twirling her knife, clutching it in her hand.

"I met someone once, told him why I was alone, that I was searching for my family. He said I was stupid, said I was better off alone than searching for people who left me behind, probably had already given up on me. I told him he was wrong, that I would find them, that things would be good. That they would be so happy to see me. I thought he was wrong. But my family, Daddy and Maggie, they," she pauses to take a deep breath. "When they look at me, it's like they just see some dead girl or something." her voice softened out, turning into just a whisper before she suddenly stands up, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I know ya probably don't wanna hear my sob story I mean, I should be happy right, I finally found them, ya know?"

He just shrugs and he wasn't planning on saying anything - mostly because he had no idea what the hell to say to that - but even if he wanted to she spoke again before he got the chance.

"I mean I get it I guess, I'm different than how I was but they could at least not look at me like I'm some girl who needs to be saved from herself. I mean I was cleanin' my weapons earlier and I swear my Daddy looked at me like he didn't even  _know_  me." she spoke, her voice dropping off in a whisper again and she once again started twirling that knife in her hands.

"He don't," Daryl says and she pauses in her pacing of the gate, turning to look up at him with surprise. "He don't know ya anymore, Maggie neither, like ya said, you're different than how ya were the last time they saw ya."

"So what?" she questions then, raising an accusing eyebrow, her voice rising. "So I'm just supposed to pretend that it's all okay that they  _buried_  me...that they can barely look at me anymore because I'm not that weak little girl I was before? I'm supposed to feel guilty that I survived and had to change because of it?"

"Nah, that ain't what I'm sayin' at all," Daryl says, glancing at the door, expecting someone to come rushing out because of her yelling. "It ain't right, what they did, givin' up on ya. Yer their blood, ya just don't give up on family."

He had to pause then and light another cigarette because didn't that just make him the biggest hypocrite on this side of Georgia, telling this woman that it was wrong that her family gave up her when he just did the same thing to Merle?

Beth was quiet now, staring out at the fence, watching the walkers milling around the fence and he had to shake his head. No, this was different. Daryl knew Merle could take care of himself - _no one can kill Merle but Merle_  - but this woman, this girl - because that's exactly what she was when she got separated from the other Greene's - she didn't know the first thing about being on her own.

"Thank you," she speaks up suddenly, glancing back at him with a small smile and Daryl shifts on his feet, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"'S'nothin'," he mumbles but she is already shaking her head.

"It is though, you're the only one here who isn't treating me like I'm about to break. Or at least looks like they trust me." she shrugs and turns back around.

"Well, no one else has seen the way ya take down walkers, ya saved my ass girl, and that ain't something I'd like to admit," he says and she turns around at the sound of his voice, her lips curving in a smirk at his teasing tone before she turns thoughtful.

"So is that what ya call 'em then?  _Walkers_?" she asks, as if tasting the word on her lips.

Daryl nods. "For the most part. Why? Whaddya call 'em?" he asks curiously.

She shrugs again. "I've heard lots of things; biters, roamers, bastards, geeks. I mostly just call 'em what they are though. Dead."

Daryl hums at her words, nodding his head. She lets out a long sigh then and turns toward him again, biting her lip.

"I guess I should get inside, I'm surprised Maggie hasn't sent out the cavalry yet," she says and then rolls her eyes and Daryl smirks.

He watches her as she walks toward the door and he isn't sure why he finds himself speaking.

"Hey," he calls after her and she turns around, her hand on the doorknob and looking at him expectantly. "I meant what I said in there, 'bout ya havin' my back."

She grins then and Daryl ignores the way the sight of it makes a warm feeling spread throughout him - that was the  _last thing_  he needed to start thinking about - and she nods her head before she pulls the door open and steps inside, letting the door close behind her.

Daryl stays out there a little while longer, finishing his cigarette as he watches the sun lower in the sky and he almost laughs because this was not how he was expecting his day to go when he left early this morning...but at the same time, when he tosses his finished cigarette away and heads back inside the prison, he can't help but smile slightly, shaking his head as he does.

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He isn't surprised when he hears Hershel clicking his way towards him later that night and he looks up from cleaning his crossbow to see the man setting his crutches against the table before taking a seat across from him.

"I wanted to thank you properly," he starts, folding his hands on the table.

"Don't gotta thank me," Daryl interrupts, focusing his attention back to cleaning his crossbow.

"You saved my little girl, son. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough." Hershel argues and Daryl sighs.

"Look, let's get one thing straight old man," Daryl says and Hershel just smirks at the moniker. "I mighta brought Beth here but yer little girl saved her self. Hell, she saved me more'n anything. Ya wouldn't be sittin' here tryin' thank me for nothin' if she hadn't'a shown up when she did."

Hershel looks like he wants to say something else but Daryl holds up his hand and stands up, swinging his crossbow onto his back.

"I'm serious, that  _little girl_  ya'll keep talkin' about ain't a little girl no more. She's a survivor, a damn fighter, and maybe once ya'll realize that and stop lookin' at her like she's just some dead girl walking around, you'll see it. Already gotta enough  _real_  dead people walking around." he mutters out harshly and he turns to leave, stomping out of the cafeteria leaving a shocked looking Hershel behind.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of playing around with the timeline a bit so don't get confused if things don't make sense, like I know Lori was just about due in the show when they first found the prison but I've decided to back track it a bit and I'm gonna say Team Family has been at the prison for about four-five months now which means she was more like four months along...
> 
> .

Beth is exhausted when she wakes up and she is pretty sure she never actually fell asleep to begin with. It had been a long time since she had gotten a full nights rest, not dozing off for a few minutes and then jerking awake, her hand immediately going to her knife. She knew she was safe here, in this prison, well, at least  _safer_  than if she were outside these concrete walls right now.

She knows no where is safe anymore.

With a sigh she gets out of bed, quickly changing into her jeans and a loose fitting tank top that Carol had managed to wash for her yesterday before she went to bed. Just like how she felt after the shower, Beth is almost uncomfortable in the clean clothes, hardly recognizing herself without the smell of her sweat or the blood of "walkers" coating her. She slips on her boots and begins to stow away her weapons, a pocket knife in her boot, a small hand gun in the back waistband off her jeans, her loose top providing the cover so it's not noticeable. She slips a small razor blade in the front pocket of her jeans, already familiar with how to place it so she doesn't cut herself.

She pulls out her hunting knife and securely fastens it on her waist, pulling it out and examining the sharpness of her blade before she slides it back in the sheath. She puts another small knife in her other boot, this one farther down and squished to the side of her foot, harder to find. She sighs and grabs her other knife off the pillow, the one she used more to calm her nerves than to kill and she twirls it around in her hand for a moment before she sticks that down in her front pocket and finally deems herself well equipped to go on this run today.

With another sigh she heads toward the entrance of the cell, drawing the light colored curtain to the side as she steps through and begins to make her way toward the cafeteria area. She walks in the vast room, glancing around to see all the tables empty except for one and she can't help but smile as she makes her way over.

"Still an early riser, huh Daddy?" she asks, taking a seat across from Hershel and he looks up from his bowl of oatmeal and smiles.

"Guess some things never change, doodlebug," he says and Beth freezes, her hand hovering over the bowl he had passed toward her and she swallows loudly, her mind roaring with the nickname.

It had been a long time since she had heard her father call her that and she was almost certain that the last time he had had been the day before her and Maggie had gone into town, back when she thought the dead were just sick and she barely knew how to start a fire. She sure didn't know anything about defending herself then either.

"Some things change," she murmurs, biting her lip as she stares down at the oatmeal in front of her.

Hershel is quiet but she sees him nod his head as she continues to look down at the table, her hand reaching out to take the spoon and she begins to eat the mushy excuse of a meal.

"I don't have to ask ya to be careful out there today, do I Bethy?" he says after a moment and Beth's head snaps up.

"I'll be fine," she mutters, her voice harsher than she intended and she cringes. "I can take care of myself just fine, Daddy." she says then, her voice quieter but she can still hear the hint of disdain and she knows Hershel picks up on it as well.

"I'm starting to realize that," he says, surprising her and she looks up at him again, seeing him staring down at her with misty eyes. "I'm proud of you Beth."

She stares at him for a moment, seeing the truth behind his words echoed in the pride in his eyes and she isn't sure what changed, why her Daddy is suddenly looking at her like he is finally seeing her for the first time but Beth can't help but feel uncomfortable. She didn't deserve his pride, he didn't know the things she had done to get here, the things she would do again. She wasn't his sweet little doodlebug anymore and she pushes her food away, her appetite gone and she stands up from her chair.

"I need some air," she mumbles and turns to walk away but at the last moment she turns back around, quickly striding toward Hershel again and she bends down, placing a swift kiss on his head. "I love you Daddy." she whispers and then turns back around, once again heading for the exit.

.

.

.

Daryl looks up as the door to the prison swings open and he takes a drag of his cigarette as Beth walks out, gasping slightly.

"Mornin' sunshine," he grunts and he is pleased to she her jump slightly, not having noticed him standing there.

"Hey," she mumbles, still sounding breathless and Daryl drops the butt of his cigarette, crushing it beneath his boot as he takes a step toward her.

"Ya a'right?" he questions, running his eyes across her, looking for a reason behind her current behavior but the only thing he can pick out is the bags under her eyes, somehow looking darker than they had the day before and he guesses that her first night at the prison hadn't exactly been a pleasant one.

She shrugs. "I'm fine."

He doesn't believe her for a minute but she starts to walk down toward the fence before he can say anything and a part of him is glad for that because why the hell would he want to talk about feelings or shit with her. That wasn't him and ever since the damn woman saved his ass yesterday he can tell that he is acting different, at least toward her than he is anyone else and he doesn't understand why and all he wants is for it to stop.

"How long have ya guys been here?" he hears her ask over her shoulder and he isn't sure when it happened but somehow he had started to follow her.

"A few months," he says with a shrug. "The place was mostly in tact when we got it, most the walkers still wearing jumpsuits. Easy."

She nods. "What about the prisoners?" she asks then and he is confused for a moment before she speaks up again. "The live ones."

He hums in the back of his throat. "Right. Found 'em a couple days in, when we were workin' on clearin' the inside. Bastards had been locked in the kitchen since the whole thing started. Didn't know a damn thing about what was happenin'."

She lets out a scoff, shaking her head slightly. "I think it's dumb, lettin' 'em stay here." she says then and he thinks back to the day before, when he had walked into the cafeteria to see her leaning over Axel, looking like she was threatening his Momma with the face he was given her.

"Oscar and Axel ain't bad I guess, still don't trust 'em and we try to steer clear of 'em but there were more 'fore ya got here. They didn't last. Gotta be honest though, only reason why we probably didn't kill 'em all on the spot was 'cause we were trying to take care'a your old man. He got bit right before we found the other prisoners."

She stiffens and a small gasp escaped her lips before she looks over at him. "Daddy got  _bit_?" she asks incredulously, a hint of terror in her voice.

He nods, furrowing his eyebrow. "Yeah. 'Is why he's only got half a leg now, Rick cut it off 'fore the infection could spread." he explains and then takes another step toward her. "Didn't Maggie or him tell ya?"

"No," she says, almost sounding lost in a daze. "I meant to ask but there were so many other questions, so many."

She looks out toward the fence, where the walkers were beginning to pile up but he's certain she isn't actually looking at what was in front of her right then. For some reason he is taking another step forward, his arm lifting up without his control and just before his hand is gripping her shoulder, Glenn appears behind them, causing both him and Beth to whip around and Daryl has to hold back a smirk when he sees Beth reaching for her knife on her belt - always quick to draw that one.

"Hey! You guys ready for the run?" Glenn asks, his voice much too chipper for this early in the morning and Beth flexes her fingers at her side, realizing that Glenn was obviously not a threat.

She looks him over and when she catches sight of the rolled up paper in Glenn's hands she is reaching out and taking it from him before he even realizes it.

"What routes we plannin' on takin'?" Beth asks, taking a few steps to the left so she can lay out the map on the hood of the Honda and Daryl lets out a grunt of a chuckle at the expression on Glenn's face before he turns around.

They go over the map and a few minutes later T-Dogg is joining them and the sun is rising higher in the sky and Daryl makes the announcement that they need to get going, just in case the first place they go to turns out to be a bust. Glenn and T-Dogg head up to the small trunk where they were keeping some of the weapons they had found from having raided the armory a few weeks ago and they come back with a few rifles and Glenn tries to hand one over to Beth but the blonde just shakes her head, continuing to look over the map on the hood of the car.

"I'm good," she states and then straightens up, rolling up the map.

"You sure?" Glenn starts but Beth gives him an amused smile, causing him to pause.

"I've got six weapons on me right now, I'll be just fine, thanks. Besides, I've taken down more with less." she reveals with a shrug and Glenn and T-Dogg both stare at her, shock clear on their faces and even Daryl lets his eyebrows raise in surprise - he had already counted three weapons on her - the hunting knife at her hip, a gun tucked into her back waistband that he had only noticed when the wind had ruffled her shirt slightly and then she had that small knife she was always turning around in her small hand stashed into her front pocket and he couldn't help but be curious as to where and what else she was packing.

"So I know we're lookin' for medical supplies but is there anything else we should be keepin' an eye out for?" Beth asks then, seeming to shake Glenn from his surprised stupor and he pulls out a crumpled up piece of paper from his back pocket, wordlessly handing it to her.

Daryl makes his way over to the bike parked a few feet away and begins a small check over everything and his head snaps up when he hears a musical laugh.

"Condoms? Really? Ya'll sure do got your prorities here." she muses with a shake of her head and then hands the list back to Glenn.

"Damn, you and Maggie already go through that last box we found?" T-Dogg says with a laugh and Daryl has to bite back a laugh when he notices Glenn's face turning a vibrant shade of red.

He sputters and then his eyes widen and they immediately go toward Beth who is now leaning against the car, her arms folded across her chest and her eyebrows raised in both amusement and annoyance and even T-Dogg stops laughing, suddenly realizing his mistake.

"Don't know why you're lookin' at me like that, Maggie told me, ya know, that you and her were shacking up while I was fighting for my life." she shrugs then and Daryl can hear the bitterness in her tone but judging by Glenn and T-Dogg's reaction he is pretty sure they don't notice the small smirk she is trying to hide. "By the way, I call shotgun," she says then and then starts to make her way over to him as he stands next to the bike, trying not to laugh at how Glenn is staring at her, mouth agape.

"You takin' this?" she asks him and he nods. "Lucky." she says and then gives him a playful smile. "I've never been on one before, always wanted to though."

She turns and walks away then, back toward the car where T-Dogg and Glenn were loading up and Daryl can't help but be thankful because if she had stood there for even a moment longer he would have offered her the seat behind him and he has never done that before. Sure, he had given Carol that ride after the farm got overrun but that had been a matter of life and death and since then, he had never offered anyone to ride with him and he honestly never planned to either.

At least until a tiny blonde woman decided to save his ass the day before and as he mounts the bike as he hears T-Dogg start the engine behind him, Daryl is once again reminded just how much - and how quickly - Beth Greene was changing him.

Carl came out of the prison a few minutes later and opened the gates for them and as Daryl rode through the gate and he heard the sound of the Honda, his thoughts drifted to the empty seat behind him and with a curse, he decided that this run was definitely going to be interesting.

.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I didn't have all the chapters posted that I had on ff.net and quickly got them all up to date but right now, i am having serious writer's block at the moment for the fic so I'm sorry if I got you all excited but I am unsure when I will be able to post a new chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


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